GEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA 23 1 



tarpon {Tarpon Atlaiiticiis), which has Httle food value but is 

 caught merely for sport by tourists. Important marine food 

 fishes in central Florida waters are the mullet, red snapper, pom- 

 pano and Spanish mackerel.* 



There seem to be no statistics available by which the fishing 

 business of our area can be separated from that of the rest of the 

 State. 



Sharks' teeth are common in the pebble phosphate and in some 

 other formations. 



Insects. In most parts of the w^orld, especially in warm cli- 

 mates, there are more species of insects than plants, so that there 

 must be at least a few thousand in central Florida. f A reasonably 

 complete list of them would take years to prepare and would have 

 little value for the general reader, but a few of the troublesome 

 ones must be mentioned. Those of greatest popular interest are 

 probably the moscjuitoes, but to write about mosquitoes without 

 being backed b}^ statistics is to risk offending some local interests, 

 so that the subject must be handled cautiously. 



There are several species of mosquitoes present in some parts 

 of our area throughout the frostless season, but probably no more 

 individuals than in an equal area in New Jersey or Alaska. Nat- 

 ural conditions are not especially favorable for them in central 

 Florida except in salt marshes, for the lime-sink region has very 

 little water, and the lakes and streams in other regions are usually 

 well stocked with fish that eat all the mosciuito larvae within reach. 

 Most of our mosquitoes come from artificial or accidental breed- 

 ing places that could be eliminated, such as water barrels and tin 

 cans, and the malaria-carrying species are decidedly in the minor- 

 ity, probably on account of the absence of muddy water which 

 they seem to prefer. Consequently there is much less malaria in 



*See Everman & Bean, Indian River and its fishes. U. S. Senate Doc. 

 46. 54th Cong., 2d Session. Jan. 1897. Also in Rep. U. S. Fish Comm. 

 1896:227-262 (with 36 plates). 1898. 



fThere are caid to be important papers on Florida beetles by E. A. 

 Schwarz in Proc. Am. Phil. Soc. 17:353-469, 1878, and in Entomologia Amer- 

 icana 4:165-175, 1888. In recent years J. A. G. Rehn and Morgan Hebard 

 have published taxonomic papers on some of our other insects in the Pro- 

 ceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 



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